


Unless Somebody Cries.

by shiptoomuch



Series: Awkward Baby Lesbian Camilla [4]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Coming Out, F/F, Meeting the Parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-21
Updated: 2019-02-21
Packaged: 2019-11-01 22:34:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17876120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shiptoomuch/pseuds/shiptoomuch
Summary: It's finally time to meet the Collins'!





	Unless Somebody Cries.

Connecticut is nice. Beautiful, even. Camilla loves the winding roads and the trees and all of it. It’s familiar and nice and she loves it. The drive is only two and a half hours. She should come out here more often.

“You’re going to snap the steering wheel in half.”

“What?”

Larissa reaches over and covers Camilla’s hand with her own. “You’ve got a pretty tight grip there, babe.”

“Sorry,” Camilla says and tries to loosen her grip, surrendering one hand to Larissa to hold, “I guess I’m just nervous.”

“Afraid they won’t like me?” Larissa waggles her eyebrows and gives Camilla’s hand a squeeze. 

“No,” Camilla says honestly. She can’t imagine anyone meeting her girlfriend and not loving her immediately. “I’m worried you won’t like them. They’re so _perfect_ and kind of unbearable. You’re going to hate them.”

“I won’t. I already deal with my perfect kind of unbearable girlfriend every day.”

“I love you, but you’re going to hate them.”

Larissa laughs again, but Camilla can’t get the knot in her shoulders to relax. They’re solid, they love each other, and Camilla is so sure about Larissa like she’s never been sure about anything in her life. Still, meeting her parents is a big deal and her mother is a lot and Larissa feels like something she needs to protect at all costs. 

Not that she’s ever needed protection from anyone or anything. 

They pull up to the large white Colonial just before sunset and right on time. Camilla cringes at the perfectly manicured lawn and Larissa just chuckles. She has half a mind to turn back, but her sister is already standing at the end of the driveway and jumping up and down wildly. 

“I love her outfit,” Lardo comments drily upon seeing the white shorts and turquoise vineyard vines shirt. 

“I hate you.”

“Cami!” Her sister shrieks as soon as they park, and basically wrenches her out of the car to pull her into a hug.

“Hey, Liv.” 

Liv gives her a tight squeeze and ruffles her hair before letting her loose. She looks over Camilla’s shoulder and steps away with a broad grin. “Hi, I’m Olivia! And you are?”

“Larissa Duan.”

Olivia pulls Larissa in for a hug before holding her out at arm’s length and scrutinizing her. “You know, when Camilla said she was bringing someone home for Easter, I assumed it was a boyfriend.”

Larissa’s mouth falls open and she turns to Camilla looking for what to say next. Camilla grimaces and mouths an apology before taking her sister’s arm. “Uh, actually I said I was bringing home someone special. Larissa _is…_ my special.”

Olivia looks confused for a bit, looking between them before her mouth falls open. “Oh shit! Does this mean that you and Katie Griffin were-“

“Katie Griffin? Oh my god, Liv, no! Larissa is my first girlfriend. I only figured out I’m a lesbian last Spring.”

“Full lez, huh? Wild. Do Mom and Dad know?”

Camilla gets another look from Larissa and rubs the back of her neck awkwardly. “Uh, no.”

“No?” Larissa exclaims finally, “oh my god, Cam! What am I walking into?”

“Big Gay Easter,” Liv fills in oh so helpfully. 

“I meant to tell them, I just…ran out of time.”

“Oh my god,” Larissa groans and steps close to wrap an arm around Camilla’s waist, “You are so lucky I love you so fucking much.”

Liv gives no warning before launching herself onto Larissa’s space and lifting her clear off the ground. “That’s so cute. Seriously, though, don’t worry. It’ll be great. How hard can coming out be? They always vote liberal, right Cami?”

“Right. I don’t even think it’ll be a big deal, honest.”

As it turns out, coming out to your rich white liberal parents after being in a serious relationship for a year is incredibly awkward. It’s hard and weird and not bad, but Camilla’s mother does cry.

She honestly can’t tell if it’s happy or sad tears. She keeps a grip on Larissa’s hand and looks to her, panicked. For her part, Larissa looks oddly calm, and just smiles back. 

Linda and Stephen Collins look perfect in their perfect home usually, both tall and blonde and commonly asked if they’re Swedish. They look like exactly the kind of people who have things exactly the way they want them. Camilla has her mother’s eyes, but she’s never seen her cry before, definitely not like now, with eyeliner running and a snot bubble coming from her left nostril. It’s ugly and unkempt and everything that Camilla’s life and family has never been.

She would laugh if this wasn’t one of the most painful moments of her life. 

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Larissa,” her father says after a long while. He steps forward to shake Larissa’s hand and pull her into a hug. “Sorry we didn’t send a Christmas present but, uh, we didn’t know you existed.”

Camilla laughs, and it’s only half nervous. She even manages an indignant “Dad!” to which her father responds by pulling her in for a hug as well.

When they separate, all that’s left is to face her mother, who has stopped crying and is only wiping tears from her face. Camilla bites her lip and Larissa wraps her arm around her waist again in comfort or assurance or something between the two. It feels like everyone in the room is holding their breath. 

“I just don’t understand why you didn’t tell us sooner. Why didn’t you trust us to love you?”

“I-“ Camilla cuts herself off when she realizes she has no idea what to say next, “uh.”

 _You sound like Jack,_ the Larissa in her mind says, and Camilla loves her. 

“Figuring out her identity was really hard for Camilla. She trusts you, and she loves you, but she wasn’t ready yet,” the Larissa in the real world says, and Camilla is going to marry her someday.

Camila’s mother lurches forward and grabs the both of them in a hug. “My baby girl! OH sweetheart, oh angel. Oh!” She exclaims with a hand covering her mouth and a horrified expression. 

“What’s wrong mom?”

“You didn’t mark down a plus one to Olivia’s wedding! I have to redo the seating chart!”


End file.
